Eltabbar
Eltabbar is the capital of Thay. Nature: Vain Demeanor: Prideful Era: 1370s Mood: Haughty elegance and beauty, with a bit of Rome thrown in Theme: The hidden heart of an evil empire; Venice with evil wizards Appearance: Eltabbar is the hidden heart of a country that puts forth a hardened image. The city is surprisingly beautiful in nearly every respect, from its glittering canals to its greenery and artworks. There are many fine buildings with columns and marble, and while the greatest are public, a number of private noble houses are quite impressive. The squalor of the slave quarter is negligible compared to the gondolas and the major thoroughfares. This is where Thayans aspire to go on their honeymoons, or to find a suitable marriage. It is also where all Thayan bards would like to perform. Inhabitants Population: 123,120 Economic Status: 100,000 gp limit Government: Ruled by Tharchion Dmitra Flass and her appointed underlings Leaders: Szass Tam, NE male lich Nec10/Red10/Acm2/Epic7 (zulkir of necromancy and the most powerful of the zulkirs); Dmitra Flass, LE female human Ill7/Red8 (tharchion of Eltabbar); Dipren Qarto, LE male human Ftr 16 (leader of the city guard) Key NPCs: High Flamelord Iphegor Nath, LN male human Clr 13/Dis4 of Kossuth (leader of Kossuth’s faith in Thay); Kwinset Tanzirk, LE female human Wiz6/Red6 (administrator of the slave market); Bilhar Sentolan, NE male human Rog 13/Asn4 (master of the thieves’ guild) Governmental Figures HL Countess Natasha von Durzig, close confidant to the Empress, spends much of her time in Citadel Thay. She maintains a small residence in the city, but frequently commutes to her family's home in High Thay by means of magical teleportation. HHE Tharchioness Mari Agneh is also a frequent commuter from her palace in Bezantur. It is no secret that she prefers Eltabbar's clean streets and high fashion over Bezantur's particular brand of stink, and it makes her no friends in her home tharch. HE Provost Vaclav Radduk, once a prominent advisor to Her Majesty, maintains his position as the influential Provost of the Collegium of Necromancy. HH The Eternal Flame, Ardyn Flameborn, lives in the newly-expanded Flaming Brazier, the largest temple to Kossuth in all the Realms. He advises the Empress on matters of faith, and serves as her confessor. HG Duke Homen Odesseiron, Tharchion of Surthay, maintains a residence in Citadel Thay and frequently attends the Empress' military needs. HE Victus Tarkasian, Autharch of Security, was until recently the Empress' open Spymaster. He is now deceased. HL Svetlana Marisova, Marches of the Ashane, maintains a permanent residence in the Citadel, as she is technically in exile. She serves as the Empress' chief advisor on Rashemen's affairs. Other Notable Individuals *Ashella Milsimmar owns and operates a magical college within Eltabbar, unaffiliated with the Collegia. She is a political activist who frequently speaks out against the Empress' more draconian decrees, and has gained the admiration of the people almost as much as the Empress has, especially among the lower classes. It is an open secret that she is a Chosen of Mystra, and one much better kept that she is the daughter of Elminster and The Simbul. Despite their obvious political differences, she and the Empress apparently maintain good relations. Social History: Eltabbar was founded in 923, a year after Thay won its independence from Mulhorand. Placing the new nation's capital deep inside seemed only natural, but was said to have darker motives. It is near the Thaymount, where the nation's premiere wizards have secret laboratories and forges, and thus sometimes suffers from earthquakes. Reputation: It is known as the center of Kossuth’s worship, the slave trade, politics, and art; it is also the second largest city in Thay. Relations: Eltabbar has a rivalry with Bezantur, the most populous city in the empire. Religions: Bane, Kossuth, Siamorphe, Waukeen, with lesser gods in minor temples and shrines Notable Heroism: Generals for Thay often hail from Eltabbar, but are trained at the military academy in Pyarados. The Tharchion spends a good amount of time in the city. Notable Scandals: Those who try to flee noble families and duties are looked down upon, and traitors to Thay are reviled. Eltabbar's culture is largely defined by a new movement, exclusive to the city, which stresses individual accomplishments over familial heritage, but retains the favor of good breeding, noble mannerisms, and a taste for the fine things in life. Eltabbar, being the richest city in the world per capita, has a very small underclass, and a well-off middle class, who toil ceaselessly under the constant social pressure to rise up, to build wealth, to do more than merely subsist. Eltabarrans value upward mobility, demonstrable achievements, and constant progress. Resting on one's laurels is not considered a noble pursuit. Thus, capitalists and merchants tend to thrive more in Eltabbaran society than landed aristocrats, a trend that is spreading throughout Thay. Eltabbar shares a trait with other cosmopolitan cities of the east, a rapidly evolving fashion industry, whose favored designs change with the season. This is largely attributed to the Empress, who is never seen in public with the same dress twice, whose innovations in hair and cosmetic fashion continue to stun Eltabbar's high society, who race to keep up. It is becoming impossible for everyday ladies-in-waiting and manservants to tend to the needs of their masters, and a new profession is emerging amongst the nouveau-riche: employing professional stylists. Empress Zahl sets the bar very high for Eltabbar's elite, and rewards only those who truly impress her. As such, she has fostered a society of overachievers, many who drive themselves mad with the pressure, but some who rise to the challenge, constantly innovating in the fields of art, architecture, economics, magic, and science. The city's night life is legendary, for those who work hard, must play hard, if they hope to retain their sanity. Most members of the rich and upper class dine out frequently, and enjoy festhalls until late at night. Musicians and artists find ample work in the city, for those of means wish to be surrounded by their works in their homes, their offices, and their places of worship. Courtesans are popular among men, who spend so little time in their homes that they invite companionship into their places of business. Men still dominate Eltabarran society, but the example of the Empress has relaxed some of the traditional biases. Single women are not entirely rejected by society, nor are married women who employ themselves in serious professions. They are still very much a minority, and are never compensated as well for their work as men, despite royal decrees to the contrary. Important Celebrations: Major holidays for the churches are conspicuously grand. Criminal Element(s): The city is run by evil and vengeful wizards. Any thieves in the area steal from visitors, not from locals. Physical Location: In the center of Thay, near the Thaymount, on the southern shores of Lake Thaylambar. Climate: Like all interior Thayan cities, the weather is fair, with scheduled rainfall at night. Geographic Features: The canals of the city are well-known but surprisingly orderly. The lake is plentifully stocked, and the mountains rise steeply to the West. The major road through Thay, known as The Slave Way, leads to Eltabbar from the coast. The road is carefully kept and slaves are marched instead of teleported, so as to break their spirits by the time they arrive in the city. Major Landmarks: The temple of Kossuth is one of the major structures of the city, and the temple of Waukeen is lavish. The major slave market takes up a good amount of space. The palace of the Tharchion is a well-known building, as is the wizard school/arcane testing center. Notable Districts: The religious district, the slave district, the noble district, the arcane district, the theater district, and the makers district are all well known. Commercial Major Industries, Products, Services: Art, drugs, foodstuffs, markets, mining, music, pearls, rope, ship supplies, ships, slaves Major Imports, Shortages, Deficiencies: Slaves and goods of all kinds are imported. The city does not tend to make its own weapons, armor, or other metal goods. Animal products are beneath them, and food crops are imported so that drugs can be fostered along the inside of the country. Technology: Magic is the order of the day but it is not squandered. Slaves provide labor of menial tasks, such as cleaning, so that magic can be used for greater ends. Hooks Three things that maintain unity: Relative wealth compared with most cities in Faerun, guarded location from spies and enemies, noble houses with heads that tend to keep some sort of order Three things that cause strife: Rival noble houses (or rivalries within noble houses), rival wizards, political pressures History Eltabbar began as a minor fishing village. In the early days of free Thay, after the success of the Red Wizard Rebellion of 922-1074 DR that saw Thay freed from Mulhorandi rule, the capital of the realm was Delhumide, and the tharch of Eltabbar was centered far northwest of the modern-day city. Its rule did not extend to the Kozan Delta, but rather terminated at the mouth of the River Thay. The Red Wizard Rebellion did not see all of what is today part of Thay freed, only the northern tharchs, separated from Mulhorandi Thay by Lake Thaylambar, the Rivers Kozan and Umber (through High Thay), and the Thaymount itself. Successive wars would take southern Thay peacemeal. The southern provinces of Lapendrar, Tyraturos, Thazalhar, and Pyarados had liberated themselves in the late 10th century, ruled by a council of Autarkia from their captial of Tyraturos. The Priador would later rebel successfully against the Pharaoh in the Alaor Wars of 1095-1100 DR. Thay acquired the southern tharchs over the next two centuries, finally defeating warlord Jhor Thrulgar in 1319 DR, and installing Kreznic Agneh as tharchion. The tharchs of Thay would remain stable for another 58 years, until the loss of the Alaor to Mulhorand. During the centuries under Pharaonic rule, trade between the two halves of the realm was mostly routed from the provincial capital of Delhumide, along the east banks of Lake Thaylambar, across the Bridge of Surag, and ultimately to Tyraturos. When Delhumide was sacked in 922 DR, the capital of the north shifted to Keluthar. During the Red Wizard Rebellion, the Zulkirs located the daemoncyst of Eltab, then in the depths below the Thaymount. They created the Great Seal of Eltabbar in its present location by routing the magic-infused waters of the Riven Kozan into the pattern of a colossal magic sigil of binding, and conducted a ritual of a magnitude unlike anything since ancient Narfell that would summon Eltab from his daemoncyst and bind him to the will of whoever controlled the Great Seal. Eltab served the Red Wizards well during their rebellion, and when they had no further need of him, they simply left him to rot in his daemoncyst. In the mean time, the site of the seal had become something of a central base for the Red Wizards, bereft of their fortifications in Delhumide. Increasingly, trade caravans were routed around or over the lake to bring them slaves and supplies. Eltabbar would not become a true city until 1250 DR, when the Zulkirs completed their new base of operations in the Thaymount, and accepted an offer of generous sums of gold, magic, and slaves from the tharchion of Eltabbar to purchase the land. There was a condition, that the Zulkirs would retain a greater-than-usual control over the city's doings, and its ruler, the better to maintain control of the Great Seal, should they have need of it. Category:Metropolises Category:Settlements in Thay